Welcome to the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club.

We invite you to participate with us and our regional groups in outings, events, and conservation activities throughout Nevada and the California portion of the eastern Sierra Nevada. Our Chapter's contains the heart of the nation's public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service. Some of the nation's premier wilderness and park lands are to be found here. Most of our activities are open to all to enjoy, but by joining Sierra Club you will help protect our legacy of accessible, scenic lands and help provide clean air and water for citizens, visitors, and wildlife.

Toiyabe Chapter Action Alert: Hands Off Our Public Land

Nevada Citizens Rally in Support of Public Lands before the NV Legislature on March 2.

Your voice is needed to protect our public lands.

Action: Urge your state legislator to vote no on SJR 1

SJR 1 "Urges Congress to enact legislation transferring title to certain public lands to the State of Nevada in accordancewith the report prepared by the Nevada Land Management Task Force."

Your personal comment on this bill will help make a difference. The above link to the Nevada Legislature's website makes this VERY easy.Click on the link, enter SJR1 where it asks for the bill number or chose from the drop-down list; check the "against" button; make a comment aboutwhy you oppose SJR1; give your name and address so they can deliver your comments to your own representative. Click here to get the facts on our pubic lands and SJR1.

– Don't Let this happen to our public lands –Background on the State takeover of public lands

Throughout the west, including Nevada, conservative lawmakers are introducing bills demanding that the federalgovernment turn over public lands to the states. These are lands specifically reserved for all the people of the UnitedStates. These are the places where we go to enjoy our wild Nevada: where we hike, bike, hunt, fish, camp, and explore.These are places critical for wildlife, for clean water supplies, for conserving our natural resources. For many of us, thesepublic lands are the reason we love the Silver State.

In Nevada, the 2013 Legislature ordered a task force to "study the feasibility" of transferring federal lands to state orprivate ownership. The task force report, completed last summer, lays out a plan to transfer federal lands to the statethat could limit access to public lands, degrade wildlife habitat and other natural resources, and probably cost our stateplenty of money.

Lands slated for transfer include areas used by all of us for outdoor recreation. Restricting public use of these landswould severely impact the billions in consumer spending and state and local taxes contributed by outdoor recreation. Nevada has a poor history of keeping lands in public hands. At statehood, the state was given 2.7 million acres. It soldand traded its way down to 3,000 acres today. If our public lands end up in state hands, will they just be sold to thehighest bidder, including mining and oil interests?

The task force underestimates the costs of wild horse management and fighting wildfires- currently two of the BLM'sbiggest costs. Do they really think our cash-strapped state can afford to fight fires on millions of acres of state andprivate land- fires that are becoming larger and more frequent? _________________________________________________________________________

Check out our information-packed handout on public lands in Nevada — download and circulate to friends:

Fletcher Peak, Spring Mountains NRA (aka Mt Charleston)

Big Falls, Kyle Canyon

Rain Tree, Kyle Canyon

Dave Porter and I left Reno at 7:00am excited about hiking another peak on the Great Basin Peak Section list. Desatoya Peak (9973’) is the high point of Churchill County and the tallest peak in the Desatoya Mountains. A quick caffeine refuel, then we headed to Fallon to meet John Ide at the Churchill County fairgrounds.

Tuesday morning, January 24, 2012 -- I rolled at about 8 am. Heading down Highway 395, I discovered that there was fresh snow just south of Walker and off and on down to Mammoth. Arrived in Bishop about noon and did a pit stop at the Spellbinder for coffee and an email check. Back on the road to Lone Pine and then east on Highways 136 and 190. Telescope Peak was my primary hiking objective for the trip so that first day out my final destination was Wildrose Campground.

We left Reno at 4:00 pm planning to arrive at the trailhead in the Sweetwater Mountains before dark to camp and get an early morning start on the trail. Our group of seven had dwindled to three hikers: myself, Larry Grant, Larry Dwyer, plus my dog Tioga. We followed the driving directions and hiking route from Bob Sumner’s book Hiking Nevada’s County High Points. Driving south from Wellington, the turn off from NV SR 338 was not marked.